P70K as additional reward

For surrendered firearms

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA)—The government has given a total of P70,660.00 as remuneration for fire-arms which former rebels turned over when they resurfaced to surrender and live peaceful lives in the society’s mainstream.

The amount came on top of other government financial aid and livelihood package given to former rebels to facilitate their social reintegration.

In fact, from two groups of surrenderees in December 2024 and January 2025, and in implementation of the provisions of the government’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (ECLIP), 6 fire arms and assorted live ammunition are now in the safekeeping of government authorities, to be demilitarized and disposed of once these which are tagged by ballistics evidence to cases are cleared or resolved.

Last August 5, 2025, the local government released P45,320 to 5 former rebels who turned in calibre .38, live ammunition and an assortment of live ammunition for heavy weapons, shares Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) secretariat Floriza Singcol of the Office of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development.

By September 1, another 4 former rebels received P25,430 from the localized ECLIP Kauban sa Reporma Program (KRP), she added.

And for those who turned these firearms over, the government’s fire-arms remuneration applies, explains Camp Dagohoy Police Intelligence Unit through Police Major Dunhill Sarmiento.

Firearms remuneration is a “financial payment” which surrenderee gets for turning in their firearms to the government, the amount depends on the valuation which the Philippine National Police determines based on the functionality and calibre of the weapon, based on the ECLIP provisions.

This too as the local ECLIP Task Force has documented 13 recent surrenderees who have realized the futility of fighting a bloody war for the ideology of the misguided.

This as a combined task force of government operatives in a joint operations successfully facilitated the voluntary surrender of 3 former regular armed communist New People’s Army warriors and six identified active mass base supporters from a barangay in Mabini in December, reports Major Sarmiento, during the recent meeting of the government’s Task Force at the Panda Tea Gardens and Suites last week.

A little over a month after that, another group of four former rebels also formally surrendered to the Joint Task Force on Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC), two of these were regular armed members and the other two, mass members of a local pheasant organization, he added.

All who surrendered professed to be members of organizations affiliated with Hugpong sa mga Mag-uumang Bol-anon (Humabol), according to the same reports.

Among those who chose the path to peace are full party members, former coordinator of a national left wing women’s organization, a yunit militia members, a regular armed members, an officer of a people’s organization, and mass member of Humabol, with ages ranging from 32 to 62.

The surrenderees, now organized and enrolled in the local integration program called Kauban sa Reporma have attained new lives totally separate from their derogatory tags of Kanhi Rebelde, points ELCAC Bohol focal person Romeo Teruel.

For their surrendered firearms and after a thorough ballistics test to determine if any of the weapon’s were being used in catalogued crimes in the courts, the government, through the ECLIP handed over the assessed value of the surrendered weapons based on the ECLIP and local reintegration program for rebels.

The 13 surrenderees are now part of the 514 comprised of 322 males and 192 females who are either getting the integrated package of assistance promised by the ECLIP or in Bohol, when several surrenderees could not qualify for the ECLIP, are served with the localized KRP package of reintegration assistance. (PIABohol)

e-CLIPPED. Ammunitions get clipped for easy loading during encounters, the local ELCAC Committee reports that weapons surrendered by former rebels allow them to get ECLIP benefits. In Bohol, those surrendered weapons which can not qualify for the national ECLIP can still be remunerated via the Kauban sa Reporma package. (PIABOhol)